Matt Allen

This post is great for Startmate, but don't ignore the headline: "9 out of 10 times VC loses money". This is a truth a lot of startup founders just don't get... when you take VC, you think you've made it... but *most of the time* a VC writes a check it goes sideways. Getting VC is NOT a magnificent milestone... it's the start of a very risky journey. Think about that: your investor comes to your board meeting... and 8 or 9 out of every 10 board meetings they go to they know "this company ain't gonna make it". I'm not against VC's and I had a terrific VC in my company, but I don't think enough founders *understand* the realities of venture capital, *particularly* in Australia, where the whole ecosystem is quite immature and a long way behind the US. #VentureCapital #fundraising #VC #startups #founders

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Complete list of all active pre-seed & seed lead investors in NZ below. Thank you to all those who helped fill in the gaps. Quite a few people have reached out and said it was helpful, which is great. Next, I am thinking of creating the list of pre-seed & seed investors in NZ who follow and fill in investment rounds. As the list will be quite long, help would be appreciated. Please add in the comments. Aera VC AgriZeroNZ Blackbird Brandon Capital Bridgewest Ventures NZ Cure Kids Ventures Ecliptic Even Capital GD1 (Global From Day One) Hillfarrance Venture Capital Icehouse Ventures Maker Partners Motion Capital Movac Nuance Connected Capital NZ Growth Capital Partners NZVC Outset Ventures Pacific Channel Phase One Ventures Punakaiki Fund Quidnet Ventures Soul Capital Sprout Agritech WNT Ventures

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Board Meetings for Seed / A companies should be open discussions on ideas and strategy 🗣️ All investors should have read the Board Pack in advance (and it should be sent 48 hours+ in advance). Specific governance / finance questions can be asked in an email chain or WA group beforehand. When the Board starts, nail any votes required in first 5 mins. Core focus of Board should = 2-3 key things that the Founders want to have a deep dialogue on, where the other members can be the sounding board. "This is our idea around our new marketing campaign. These are our channels." "We've narrowed down these three candidates for x role." "Here is prototype for our new product feature launching next month." "Here's the template for our Sales playbook for moving up market." "We a/b tested these two acquisition channels and have some preliminary data." No need to spend half the Board meeting talking about financials, the Board Pack will show if you've overspent, the reasons why and can be discussed async beforehand.

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Venture-backed founders sign up for a binary outcome: Go Big or Go Home. Which is why it is so puzzling to see so many of these founders pivot away from growth to "sustainable" low-growth profitability, according to Tim Doyle, founder of Eucalyptus. Low-growth, sub-scale venture-backed companies have no future -- even if they are able to turn a small profit. Don't waste your life force building a zombie company! -- It was heaps of fun getting some of Tim's hot takes in today's BONUS episode of The Startup Podcast, with me and Chris Saad.

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This episode of Moneywise left me more inspired than any of the +600 pod episodes I've recorded. My friend Mike Beckham owns Simple Modern, an ecom business. The biz does +$200m/year and is quite profitable. He bootstrapped it, which is a big deal. Mike dives deep on his personal finances. But, more importantly, he talks about how he gives away most of the money. And not just giving it away when he sells or hits big. But he's been giving it away since he started. We dive deep on - how he decides who to give to why - what % of his money he gives - how to do it tax wise And everything else on this topic that people are typically WAY too afraid to discuss. Mike is absolutely amazing. Watch or listen: https://lnkd.in/g_XHv98V

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What’s happening in healthtech? 💊🎉 💰The Vic Gov will invest $7.5M to fund researchers to create 50 new startups  run by Breakthrough Victoria 💻 Safewill, bagged $17M to expand services like digital wills, power of attorney, & probate assistance 🧘‍♀️ Pronto Pilates snagged $1.6M in crowdfunding, to disrupt reformer pilates with affordable, trainer-free classes 💼 Hostplus committed $125M to VC, backing startups through IP Group plc Innovation Fund 📜 Private companies will now have to upload health data to My Health Record thanks to the Health Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 🧪 Aussie women will soon have access to at-home chlamydia & gonorrhoea tests 🤖 Baymatob won ‘AI Innovator - Healthcare’ at the Aus AI Awards for its maternal health tech providing early warnings for complications 🧬 The Fed Gov launched Genomics Australia, a national body to lead & coordinate genomic research, with a $30M commitment over 4 years 💼 Aus's $15B National Reconstruction Fund begins investing in deep tech, allocating $300M to boost quantum, robotics, & clean energy innovation ~~~🌎 US & Beyond the Borders 🌎~~~ 💍 ŌURA raised $75M, reaching a US$5B+ valuation, partnering with Dexcom to integrate glucose monitoring data into its platform 🧠 Headspace laid off 13% of its staff & is transitioning all therapists from employed roles 📈 WHOOP adds psychedelics tracking to its Journal feature, letting users log ketamine, LSD, & psilocybin use ⚽ David Beckham codeveloped longevity supplement brand IM8 Health with biotech company Prenetics, launching a longevity drink 💻 Eli Lilly & Company, the global pharma, invests S$42M in Singapore to launch a Digital Health Innovation Hub 🛠️ Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers trained a surgical robot using imitation learning from surgery videos Keen for the links & delicious deets?? 🍩🙌 Take a gander at last week's newsletter in the comments below👇😊 --- PS - if you liked this and are keen to join >8700 legends getting health tech and innovation news dropped direct to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter, What the Health, linked in the comments below! 💜 📩 #healthtech  #health  #healthcare  #digitalhealth  #medtech  #biotech

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📢 Want a crash course in angel investing and venture capital? If you're interested in learning more about angel investing and the world of venture capital, we're hosting an intro series on this topic across multiple sessions, kicking off today! Sign up details below 👇

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✨ Breaking: Melt Ventures Announces New Fund.- Melt Ventures Melt Ventures, a partner of the WAVC initiative, focuses on early-stage investments in sectors aligned with Western Australia’s innovation priorities. https://melt.ventures/ Please share to let other #Founders know For the ❤️ of Startups #Fusion42 #Startups #Venturecapital

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Decoding VC speak is often tough - many founders will hear a combo of “Come back to us when you have more revenue” or “Let me know once you have a lead investor” Much of this means “Tell me when it’s safe enough for me to make a decision because someone else has done the hard work” I talk about this and more in an article for our friends at Startup Daily https://lnkd.in/gnFvGFy8

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Meet Cheryl Kellond 💎, a 3X founder, having previously built Bia sport, the #1 rated fitness wearable on Amazon, and Apostrophe, which she scaled to $10M in ARR. Now she's building Play Money!, an investment platform enabling everyday angels to build a diversified startup portfolio without making angel investing a full-time job. Cheryl and I share a passion for unlocking angel dollars to get more capital to underrepresented founders, so I couldn't be more excited to highlight her and what she's building! In this episode we chat about: 💫 How and why she started investing with just $1.5-$2.5K checks 💫 The most common mistakes angel investors make 💫 Raising $20M during her career from investors like M13 💫 + so much more Check out our full conversation here: https://lnkd.in/gpNbjzSm #invest #venturecapital #startups #vc

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Many Aussie/Kiwi founders eventually face the decision of: what market should I go to next? Often, the answer they land on is the US. The key decision points then become: 1) when should I enter the US? 2) how should I break in? I spent the last 2 weeks with US VCs in San Francisco and New York, exploring those two questions and understanding what they've seen work and what they've seen fail. If you're in the early stages of building a venture scale business, I wrote the below as a simplified guide for thinking through those two decision points: https://lnkd.in/gY2JzByV

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I'm very proud to see Crimson Education, founded by Jamie Beaton, Fangzhou Jiang, and Sharndré Kushor, cement its place in New Zealand's small stable of tech Unicorns. It's exciting to see an ANZ edtech focused on K - 12 education excel on a global stage. It's a proof point that the region can produce successful tech businesses beyond B2B SaaS. Crimson's journey has intersected with mine in curious ways. I remember spending the summer break with Jamie and Richard when they were applying to US universities; I must have proofread dozens of iterations of personal statements. I was then one of Crimson's first tutors in 2013, and recruited several others from ANU to support Crimson's expansion into tutoring HSC subjects. I remember having pizza with the team in Fangzhou's Unilodge dorm room, in between the information sessions they hosted for highschool students. From these humble beginnings, it's incredible to see Crimson grow into a world leader in college admissions consulting and online high school education - while accelerating to over $100m USD in annual turnover. At various times, I've heard Crimson cop criticism for creating a 'hack' for getting into elite universities. Having worked closely with a number of Crimson students - I think what Crimson really does is expand students' horizons, help them to hone in on what they're great at, and raise their ambition. Ever since he was 17 years old, Jamie has believed that the world could be his oyster. His optimism and energy is infectious; spending time with Jamie always raises my ambition too. It's marvelous to see him scale his superpower via the business he's built in Crimson Education. More about the raise in this article by Paul Smith -

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Why is taking grant money from the Australian goverment detrimental to lean startups? #AskGPT #FatBureaucraticStartup #ObeseStartups #FakeEconomy #AustralianStartup #LeanStartup #DeathByForms #WasteOfTime #LeanStartup Taking grant money from the Australian government can be seen as detrimental to lean startups for several reasons: 1. **Loss of Agility**: Lean startups thrive on agility and the ability to pivot quickly based on market feedback. Grant funding often comes with specific conditions and reporting requirements, which can slow down decision-making and hinder flexibility. 2. **Dependency on Funding**: Relying on government grants can create a dependency that detracts from the startup’s motivation to achieve sustainable revenue. Startups may focus on meeting grant criteria instead of building a viable business model. 3. **Misalignment with Lean Principles**: Lean startups emphasize customer discovery and validation. Government grants may incentivize startups to focus on meeting funding milestones rather than directly addressing customer needs. 4. **Increased Bureaucracy**: Navigating the application process for grants can be time-consuming and bureaucratic, taking time away from core business activities. This can be especially challenging for startups with limited resources. 5. **Limited Market Signals**: Grants can distort market signals. If a startup is funded by a grant, it may not be compelled to seek market validation as aggressively as a self-funded startup, potentially leading to a misalignment with actual market demand. 6. **Expectations and Pressure**: Grant funding often comes with expectations from the government for job creation or technological advancement, which can pressure startups to scale prematurely or in directions that may not align with their strategic goals. While government grants can provide valuable support, it's essential for lean startups to carefully consider the implications and ensure that any funding aligns with their long-term business objectives and lean methodologies.

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🌟 Australian Startups 2023: A Year of Strategic Shifts and Emerging Opportunities 🚀 In 2023, the Australian startup landscape navigated a cautious investment climate, recording a total of 413 deals with an overall investment value of $3.5 billion. Despite a significant drop in deal value from previous years, there was a notable shift towards robust activity in the early stages of investment. Angel and Pre-Seed rounds not only resisted the broader downturn but actually increased, highlighting a vibrant seed funding environment that underpins a dynamic market for emerging technologies. This heightened competition at the entry-level indicates a strategic pivot within our ecosystem, investing in the foundational potential of new ventures. Such insights are crucial as we steer towards nurturing a resilient and innovative startup community ready to tackle future challenges. Dive deeper into the full analysis and explore how these shifts are shaping the future of Australian innovation. https://lnkd.in/gc4gNtGc #AustralianStartups #VentureCapital #StartupEcosystem #Innovation

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🔥 Unpopular Opinion: Australia's Fractured Fintech Ecosystem As a Fintech founder or community member to go to all the major events this month you're looking at circa $1K minimum, even more if you're not a startup founder. 💰 Now it's not a HUGE amount of money but that's just June, there's multiple events throughout the year. 🤝 Now all of these events are great opportunities for networks to grow, deals to be done and partnerships to be formed and should be attended. They're organised by passionate and great people. 🤗 But there's lots of talk about Fintech struggles of late and how as a community we can band together and help increase funding, talent and growth of Fintech in Australia. 🤯 We have multiple communities, awards, summits (including a new one last week), newsletters, memberships and then there's other communities for cyber, regtech, proptech, insurtech, crypto and on and on and on the list goes. 👊 And I'm not naive as to how we got to where we are, and I'm certainly not diluting the value each community or event brings, we all love a good backslapping. It's just appears to be overly complex for our size of market. So it beggars the question, do we need micro communities, with different audiences, agendas, voices? And as a Founder how do you determine where to spend your hard earned $ and get the best bang for buck? #australia #fintech #events #community #networking

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A 92% increase in founder-advisor conversations on our platform says it all. Founders know scaling isn’t just about hard work—it’s about having the right people in their corner. I’ve seen the impact of experienced advisors have on startups: sharper strategies, clearer decisions and accelerated growth. If you’re ready to guide startups and make a difference, let’s connect 👉 https://lnkd.in/gBexuUVh #Startups #Founders #AdvisoryBoard #PortfolioCareer

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⏰There is a Tick Tock pulse in fundraising and sales⏱️ If Tick is fundraising, Tock is sales. ❌ The problem is most founders go Tick Tick Tick > Tock Tock Tock ❗️Now the next Tick will be much harder because your valuation has now priced in all that past revenue (fair) but without a clear line of sight to future revenues that drive venture-scale growth. 🕥This can prolong the fundraising process as investors wait to see your next batch of contracts come in. 💡One solution is to fundraise after signing a contract but before servicing it. In other words, pre-A/B rounds. It’s a short window but this is the Tick Tock pulse that works incredibly well if you get it right. Here’s the narrative: 1️⃣We have $x in signed contracts and will have to service them over the next 12 months 2️⃣We’re raising now so we can focus on pleasing our customers when the time comes. 3️⃣For this peace of mind, we’re willing to take a 20% discount on our next round valuation given the contracts are already signed. 4️⃣Of course, you are welcomed to join after we’ve closed the revenues. We might be raising at 20% discount to the following round by then. 💡As an added benefit, founders get to focus on one thing at a time - fundraising > sales > fundraising > sales (Tick Tock Tick Tock!) ➡️As with most things I share, works for B2B deep tech. I think? 🧐 💸Don’t try this at home (consumer tech).

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What does it really take to get to $1M? I’ve had a couple of interesting conversations about this recently–in particular the role of founder-led sales in the journey. Everyone knows the importance of it but that doesn’t mean it comes naturally. It can be more difficult for founders from a non-commercial background to feel comfortable selling but Eoin Hinchy (Tines Co-founder and CEO) had some interesting thoughts on how to turn this into an advantage. Speaking on the most recent episode of The SaaS Revolution show, Eoin shared how he approached founder-led sales on the journey to $1M, how it helped the business grow to where it is today, and how the founder-led sales mentality should extend to, well, founder-led everything in the early days.  Here are the key things I took away from the conversation: Deep understanding of buyers > sales experience: Eoin and his co-founder weren't salespeople but they deeply understood their customers and the problems they were facing. This helped them “paper over the cracks” in their sales knowledge and connect with customers on a different level. The importance of authentic connections: They built a product they’d had a need for in other roles. This meant conversations could come from a place of empathy having been in their customers’ shoes themselves. It’s not just closing deals: Hearing real time feedback, seeing what resonates, and listening to objections allows you to reduce feedback latency and act on the insights you collect. Wear all the hats: Eoin advocates for founders doing almost every job in the business for at least a short period. Whether prospecting, writing code, or manning the booth at trade shows, he says it helps you make better decisions because you understand the role and its challenges first hand. Even now at tens of millions in ARR, Eoin is a hands-on founder. While not involved in every deal, he stays close to customers and prospects to understand their challenges and remains available to weigh in on deals if he can add value. You can listen to the podcast now available on all players and also see Eoin in person at SaaStock Europe this October 14-16th where he'll be speaking. #firstmillion #founderledsales #founder #tines #saasrevolutionshow #saastock2024

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There's some incredible founders building 'unincredible' tech. If Liquid Death can put water in a cool can and get valued at $1.4 billion, make it your mission to know that not everything valuable is in tech. Tech is valuable, yes. But not every problem needs to be centred around tech. Take communities - focusing on exceptional community experiences is far greater than developing an app for said community. Take therapy - getting people in front of good therapists faster is far greater than self-diagnosing through countless online forms. Take sales - it's not just about creating platforms that give us more emails, it's being able to scale the tasks we don't like doing that helps personalise and add human touches to our efforts. Some of us out there could be building successful business that are service-centric and tech-accelerated. Instead, we force tech to help create value and raise investments. It could hurt you and it could delay your progress. Who is building great non-tech solutions?

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